NYC #13 // Happy Birthday ♥

Somewhere in Brooklyn.

Hello there! Yes, I am still alive and yes, I am still in New York. Many apologies for my lack of posts the last two weeks, but my private life had taken over me and my thoughts. Anyways, everything is good and yesterday was a special day for me! If you follow me on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter you might have noticed that it was my Birthday :) But writing this, I actually would like to say: Happy Bornday to everyone who made the past year such a special and incredible one full of life, love and joy! I am looking forward to another new year, a new and better me! May it be filled with more adventures, more mindfulness, more compassion and even more love ♥ 

Thank you to everyone who is reading this, thank you to everyone who believes in me and a huge thank you to my friends and family! And special thanks to the ones, who spent this bright day with me! :) Of course, this wasn't a usual birthday since I am far away from home, but I started the day easy, enjoyed lots of reading and met up with dear friends for some thrift shopping - because in NY you just have to do that! - then later that day, we went out for Vietnamese Dinner because I was craving vietnamese authentic Phở! 

 Bánh Cuốn

 (a nothern dish, rice batter filled with pork, 

mushrooms and shallots)

 #notsovegan

Sao Mai, East Village

203 1st Ave, New York, NY 10003

Open everyday 11-22.30pm

We ended up at Sao Mai in the East Village and it was pretty decent. I would probably come back here again. The appetizers were good, the Beef-Phở Broth reminded me of home and the overall atmosphere, waiters (southern-vietnamese) were nice, too! I wonder how their vegetarian Phở is because this was not so vegan... so an exception for me. This might be a good thing to find out: Vietnamese Vegan Dishes!

After this filling meal, my Japanese friend took me to Cha-An, a very hidden place close to St.Marks. It's on the second floor of the building and when you step into the café, you will enter a Japanese traditional teahouse filled with tea pots, bamboo leaves and little tables. First thought: This place is super cute and cozy! The desserts were really really delicious, I'm definitely coming back here! We had the Dora-Yaki Ice-Cream Sandwich and Yukimi Zenzai - mochi ice cream with red bean porridge and Genmaicha Green Tea. This place is highly recommended for all green tea lovers!

Cha-An Teahouse, 

 230 East 9th Street, 2nd Floor

New York, 10003

Mon-Thu 2-11pm

Fri-Sat 12-12am

Sun 12-10pm 

Therefore, I had a beautiful day in the city. The sun was shining bright, it was pretty warm and I had good food and good company! This week will be pretty food-heavy since Thanksgiving is coming up, so stay tuned for more foody-posts the next days, stay curious and have a Happy New Week guys ♥ 

NYC #11 // When in New York...

Start the day right.. nope.. not with brunch, 

but with real yummy breakfast. Recipe here.

 

 Walk around and enjoy the little things.

 Visit the Costume Institute Exhibition Death becomes Her

in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Diego Rivera // The Café Terrace

Max Weber // Athletic Contest

Find your favorite artwork

in the many, many exhibitions.

Dream yourself back in time.

Pamela Barsky

Stroll through Chelsea Market.

See Ms. Liberty, at least once and

for free from the Staten Island Ferry.

Explore Downtown.

Walk over the Brooklyn Bridge.

 End the day with a nice sunset from Dumbo.

Celebrate Pumpkin Season

and do pumpkin-everything!

Look up. Yep, away from your phone.

 Siblings Army

Discover new artists and designers at

Artists & Fleas, Williamsburg.

Try something New!

Have delicious food at Smorgasburg.

Take a moment to step back and

be grateful.

NYC #10 // My personal Broadway Bomb Weekend

Ian Nichols, co-founder of the Broadway Bomb

Do you know the feeling when you skate through the streets of your town with some of your best friends? Imagine this with hundreds and hundreds of skaters pushing next to you in New York City! Anyways, let's start this post with Uncle Funky's Potluck Picnic on Friday Night. The Uncle Funky's family set up a small get-together to kick off the Broadway Bomb Weekend. A bunch of skaters from New York, the U.S. and even from Sweden and Germany came ;) 

After a while, we decided to move the skate party inwards. To be honest, I didn't really know what that meant... until I found myself skating by night on the big streets of Manhattan. We skated from the West to the Eastside, then on to the Williamsburg Bridge, the famous bridge - never done that before, so for me, über exciting! Then, skating down the brigde was another huge adrenaline kick! It was a long, very fast and a sweaty journey, but worth every single push.

Landed somewhere in Brooklyn, I was stoked as hell and couldn't hide my enthusiasm about the past moments. But it wasn't over yet. We stepped into a house party (I called it skate heaven because there was a Miniramp in the basement and hey, 6 rad skaters living under one roof) and we even played Adam Colton's famous Bite the Bag Game.

The next morning, THE day of the Broadway Bomb, everyone started at noon on 116th Street. For my part, I decided to wait on 14th & Broadway to take some pictures, and dived into the first big crowd. Even though it was only the last bit of the Bomb, it was sick! We were all pushing through red lights, making these crazy taxi drivers, pedestrians and cyclists stop, some held their smartphones up high to take a snap and it was such a cool vibe skating with amazing people, pushing and not giving a fuck. Just do what you love, get rad or get lost! And don't die! Haha!

 Kiefer Dixon on his way. 

 Jamie Nieves // Cami Best // Mike Girard

After hitting the finish line at the Charging Bull, we cruised down to the East River Park to announce the winners. Kiefer Dixon and Claudia Clase made it first. Some of us took off shortly after and went for some food, naps and beers, just to land at skate heaven again later that night. 

It was like a never-ending skate party with positive people, doing what they do every single day, being stoked about their passion and making the best out of the urban streets of New York. What I think can be related to any community or passion is, when you feel like your legs are killing you, the positivity and drive of the community make you go further and not care about pain. Everything is mental, so enjoy the time while doing it and push harder! Also, one of the most inspiring things about the last weekend was: it doesn't matter whether longboarding or skateboarding, whether long / small / or even middle boards, there is no difference, you are a skater and we skate everything. We all share one love, one passion. 

 Slide Jam with Steve Kong

Sector 9's Scavenger Hunt

 

The weekend went on with a small Slide Jam on Sunday Morning and ended with a fun Scavenger Hunt through the city organized by Sector 9 in the afternoon. Hopefully this will happen again next year! 

I cannot believe how my life has changed by getting my first longboard, back last year. Everyone else and everything what happened next were connected. This whole community of positive, creative, and motivated skaters opened up a new world. I cannot say it enough: thank you to everyone who is part of this, never did I feel so much freedom and vitality before. 

I hope this skate party will never end, 

cheers and keep your heads up high,

inspire and aspire

from New York with stoke,

Huyen